By Rich Chrampanis | rchrampanis@tworivertimes.com
HOLMDEL – You couldn’t blame any athlete for having a pessimistic view of high school basketball in 2021. There are no state playoffs, the schedule is cut in half and at any moment the truncated season can come to a screeching halt with one positive COVID-19 test. Last year the Saint John Vianney girls basketball team was one win away from a state championship in 2020 and two more wins from adding another Tournament of Champions banner to the gym before everything was taken away from them at the beginning of the pandemic.
“It was definitely very upsetting,” junior guard Ashley O’Connor said. “All of a sudden everything was gone. We were locked down and had nothing to do. That was a big bummer. That just makes us more motivated for this year because we have a chance.”
With the entire 2020 team that went 28-1 returning, all of the long-term goals are off the table. A team that could have contended for back-to-back state and T of C titles will have to settle for winning the Shore Conference Tournament for a second straight year. Despite the reality of no state playoffs, the Saint John Vianney team is practicing like everything is on the line. And the season hasn’t even started yet.
“We’re all just so happy to be back in the gym,” junior for ward Megan Cahalan said. “We’re able to laugh and have fun because when the time comes to work hard, we are able to get things done.”
The pace of a Saint John Vianney practice is high tempo, to say the least. Coach Dawn Karpell attaches a competitive element to every single drill. Players pair off and run seven minutes of constant shooting keeping score. The winning team gets a much deserved 30-second break while ev- eryone else drops and does push-ups. Defensive drills assign points in a variety of ways and the scoreboard is utilized to keep track of an SJV team that is divided in half. In the midst of a two-hour workout, there are about a half dozen of these mini-games, and almost every time the score is very close. It gives the Lancers the simulation of playing in a tight situation and provides something that can easily translate to a close game later in the season.
“Just practicing hard, going hard against each other really pushes us to become greater,” junior guard Madison St. Rose said. “When we are playing against these really tough teams we already have that mentality that we’re going to lock in on defense and we’re going to get that extra rebound and that’s how we pull through to win these close games.”
In the midst of all that was taken away from them, the entire Lady Lancers team continues to keep a positive outlook which explains their championship pedigree.
“Just because COVID happened, it doesn’t mean it’s going to bring down our energy,” St. Rose said. “At least we got the opportunity to play in the gym. Not everyone in the world gets to play. Just for us to get a chance, even if we have to wear a mask, to play with each other, even though it’s shortened, we’re just grateful for that time.”
The resilience shown by every athlete during this pandemic is always on display. Teams are accustomed to gathering close and putting their hands in together but now an SJV huddle has teams in a wide circle with hands nowhere near their teammates. Then there’s the adjustment of practicing and perhaps playing basketball with a mask on.
“Shooting with the mask on sucks,” senior Emma Bruen said. “It’s just what we have to do. I’d rather play with a mask on than not play at all.”
Bruen and fellow senior Katie Hill teamed up in the seven-minute shooting drill. Bruen will use this senior year to showcase her talents for college coaches. Recruiting is another aspect that has wreaked havoc on high school athletes during the pandemic. A player like Bruen is undoubtedly a one who can succeed at the next level and will make the most of the games she has in her senior year to pick up scholarship interest. Saint John Vianney has a reputation for producing talent that can adjust to the college game: A Lancer practice resembles a Division I workout and the Karpell system gets her players ready to take on roles that college coaches covet. Hill is signed to play Division I basketball at Richmond while St. Rose and Cahalan have committed as juniors to Princeton and Holy Cross, respectively.
“We definitely want to come out every game and make the statement that we would have won the T of C if we had the chance to play in it and we’re the best team in New Jersey and show what we can do,” Hill said. “It’s definitely hard not getting the T of C. I’m just trying to make the best of what we have. We still have a chance to play in the Shore Conference Tournament and I just want to come out in the short season and win everything we can.”
Saint John Vianney is the gold standard for girls basketball in a state that has the reputation of producing stellar college basketball talent. With 16 state titles and seven T of C crowns, no girls team in New Jersey has more. The current Saint John Vianney team will not get to add to the record-setting numbers but they will be remembered forever in their home gym.
“We’re going to give them the banner with their name on it because they were recognized as the No. 1 team in the state (in 2020),” Karpell explained. “In the big picture of it this year, they’re not going to have that opportunity. But they’re going to enjoy the time that they are in the gym together right now and make the most of the opportunities presented to them.”
Karpell has 428 career wins and has experienced a lot of things in her coaching career. In 2016, her daughter Sarah (now a guard at Fordham University) was a part of the 2016 SJV Tournament of Champions winning team, the last T of C title for the Holmdel school. Now, in 2021, Dawn will once again coach a daughter as freshman Julia begins her high school career.
The adversity of COVID and the uncertainty of 2021 makes her especially proud of her current Lancers team which has shown the heart of a champion.
“Living through a pandemic as a teenager is not the most ideal thing in the world,” Karpell said.
“Things opened back up in June and the kids have really just thrown themselves into basketball. They’ve been at all kinds of workouts, out in the park, lifting weights, and continue to work on getting themselves better. They like each other. You can tell just being around here that they enjoy being around each other and they’ve been competing with each other since June. They’re making the most of it.”
This article originally appeared in the Jan. 21-27, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
